Apparatus for removing articles from envelopes

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for handling envelopes. An envelope carrier is mounted on the table of a vibrating device. The carrier is formed with a plurality of upwardly and downwardly open compartments, each of which includes a pair of spaced-apart ledges positioned to support lower end corners of the envelopes. A group of stacked envelopes which are pre-opened along one edge are supported in upstanding relationship on the ledges with the open edges facing downwardly. Vibration of the table and carrier causes the side walls of individual envelopes to separate so that any contained articles drop by gravital action downwardly onto the table. In one embodiment the envelopes are supported with their major axes extending along an incline so that the articles move during vibration to the lower corners of the envelopes and pivot downwardly about fulcrums defined by the lower ledges. Means are provided to selectively adjust the distance between opposed ledges in the compartments to accomodate envelopes of variable sizes.

United States Patent [1 1 Gernetzke Mar. 11, 1975 APPARATUS FOR REMOVINGARTICLES FROM ENVELOPES David W. Gernetzke, 420 Montgomery, Novato,Calif. 94104 [22] Filed: Aug. 24, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 283,547

[76] Inventor:

Primary E.\'aminer.Robert .I. Spar Assistant Examiner-Lawrence J. OreskyAttorney, Agent, or FirmFlehr, Hohbach, Test, Albr'itton & Herbert [57ABSTRACT Method and apparatus for handling envelopes. An envelopecarrier is mounted on the table of a vibrating device. The carrier isformed with a plurality of upwardly and downwardly open compartments,each of which includes a pair of spaced-apart ledges positioned tosupport lower end corners of the envelopes. A group of stacked envelopeswhich are pre-opened along one edge are supported in upstandingrelationship on the ledges with the open edges facing downwardly.Vibration of the table and carrier causes the side walls of individualenvelopes to separate so that any contained articles drop by gravitalaction downwardly onto the table. in one embodiment the envelopes aresupported with their major axes extending along an incline so that thearticles move during vibration to the lower corners of the envelopes andpivot downwardly about fulcrums defined by the lower ledges. Means areprovided to selectively adjust the distance between opposed ledges inthe compartments to accomodate envelopes of variable sizes.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEB MARI 1 i975 snmiurz ATENTED NARI 1I975 sum 2 as 2 APPARATUS FOR REMOVING ARTICLES FROM ENVELOPESBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to article handlingmethod and apparatus, and in particular relates to the handling ofenvelopes and the contents thereof.

Organization such as business establishments or governmental agenciescommonly receive a large number of articles such as checks, money,correspondence or other documents in envelopes mailed by customers andother members of the public. For example, banking institutions andcredit card companies receive a large daily volume of return envelopescontaining checks or money for payment on the customers account. It ispresent practice in handling these return envelopes to open theenvelopes by automatic slitting machines and then manually extract thecontents for subsequent handling, afterwhich the envelopes are discardedand destroyed. It has been found that, because of the requirement forthe manual step of extracting the contents, an occasional envelope willbe inadvertently discarded and destroyed along with its contents. Wheremany thousands of envelopes are handled in this manner on a daily basisby a single organization, many unprocessed checks may thus be destroyed,with the result that the customer is not properly credited with theamount of the payment.

Present attempts to solve the foregoing problems include that ofmanually inspecting each of the processed envelopes after the extractionstep to insure that all contents have been removed. This procedureinvolves a high labor content, and is expensive and time consuming.Automatic inspection equipment has also been provided to optically scanthe discarded envelopes for detecting any unextracted contents. However,such equipment is relatively expensive to install and operate, requiresservice and repair by relatively skilled person nel, and requires theadditional step of manually extracting any unprocessed contents from theenvelopes which have been optically scanned and detected. Thereforethere has been recognized a need for a new improved method and apparatusfor removing contents from envelopes of the type described.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention toprovide improved method and apparatus for handling envelopes to removecontents or articles therefrom.

Another object is to provide apparatus of the above character which isrelatively simple and inexpensive to fabricate and operate, and whichlends itself to high capacity of operation with a minimum of labor, andwith a high degree of accuracy in article extraction.

A further object is to provide a method of the above character by whichenvelopes are vibrated while being supported in a manner causing theenvelopes side walls to separate and facilitate removal of any containedarticles by gravital action in one embodiment, or by combined gravitaland pivotal action in another embodiment.

The apparatus and method of operation of the invention includes anenvelope carrier constructed with a plurality of compartments providedwith ledges arranged to support a plurality of envelopes which arestacked in side-by-side relationship with their open edges facingdownwardly. The carrier is supported by LII BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEDRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of apparatus incorporating oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of one envelope carriercompartment of the apparatus of FIG. 1 illustrating the operationthereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of apparatus incorporating anotherembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through one envelope carriercompartment of the apparatus of FIG. 4 illustrating the operationthereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the drawings FIG.lillustrates generally at 10 preferred apparatus for carrying out themethod of the invention. Apparatus 10 includes an envelope rack orcarrier 11 mounted above a suitable vibrating mechanism, whichpreferably comprises a vibrating jogger 12.

Vibrating jogger I2 is of conventional construction and includes a flatplanar table 13 carried over a housing structure 14. The housingstructure encloses suitable means for imparting vibratory motion totable l3 which in turn imparts vibratory motion to envelope can rier II.This vibrating means preferably includes electromagnet coil structure,not shown, mounted in operating relationship with the jogger table andadapted to impart a vibratory motion having a major vertical directionalcomponent. An on-off switch 15; is provided to connect the coils incircuit with an AC electric power source, and suitable means such as themanually operated rheostat control Mr is provided in the circuit toselectively vary to coil voltage and thereby vary the amplitude ofvibration to the desired magnitude, as required by the particularenvelope load or weight. Preferably the vibrating rate is controlled at3,600 cycles per minute.

Envelope carrier it comprises a frame which includes a pair ofupstanding side walls 17,, it secured to opposite side margins of table13 by suitable means such as screw fasteners or bolts extending into thepair of base strips 19, it; mounted along the lower edges of the sidewalls. A pair of end walls 21, 22 are mounted between the upper marginsof the side walls. A plurality, shown as six, of upwardly and downwardlyopen envelope receiving compartments 23, 24 are formed by means of acentral partition 25 extending between end walls 2t, 22; and fourequally spaced-apart transverse partitions 26-29 mounted between theside walls and central partition. Operator access for loading andunloading the compartments with envelopes is facilitated by formingsemi-circular cutouts 31. 32 along the upper edges of the transversepartitions and the two end walls. The lower edges of each of the endwalls 21,

22, the transverse partitions 26-29 and the central partition 25substantially lie in a common plane vertically spaced above jogger table13 to facilitate operator access for removing articles from the table.

Means for supporting stacks of pre-opened envelopes within each of thecompartments is provided and comprises spaced-apart pairs ofhorizontally extending parallel ledges mounted lowermost in each of thecompartments. As best illustrated in FIG. 3 the pair of ledges for thetypical compartment 23 comprises a ledge 33 secured to and extendinginwardly from the lower inner margin of carrier side wall 17, and anopposite ledge 34 secured to and extending inwardly from the lower innermargin of central partition 25. The horizontal spacing or distancebetween the ledges of each pair is predetermined in accordance with thesize of the particular envelope, and the article contained therein,which is to be handled. As illustrated in FIG. 3 for the typicalenvelope 35, the two ledges 33, 34 are horizontally spaced-apart adistance less than the length of the envelope as measured along itsmajor axis parallel with the open edge 36 so that opposite end cornersof the envelope are supported by the two ledges. Also, this distancebetween the ledges is less than the horizontal length of the typicalarticle 37 as measured along its major axis so that the article is freeto move downwardly, as illustrated in dashed line, through the openedges of the envelope during vibratory operation. With stacks of theenvelopes supported upright on the ledges within one or more of thecompartments, and with the all envelope open edges facing downwardly,vibratory motion imparted to the carrier causes the opposite planar sidewalls of each individual envelope 35 to separate or move apartsufficiently to permit any contained articles to drop from the envelopeby gravital action. This is best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 where thearticle 37 is shown in a position at which it has partially moveddownwardly through the open edges of the envelope. Proper operationrequires that the number of envelopes carried in a compartment of givensize be controlled to preclude compaction and permit separation of theenvelope sidewalls. Preferably an average of 430 envelopes are stackedfor use in compartment 23 which, as an example, measures 6% inchesbetween the surfaces of partitions 26, 27.

The use and operation of apparatus will be explained in relation to aprocedure in which a business organization receives a volume ofenvelopes containing checks or other articles for payment on account. Itwill be assumed that the envelopes are of uniform size dimensioned 6inches in length along their major axes and 4 inches in width. Apparatusis constructed inaccordance with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 with eachcompartment sized 6% inches X 6 /8 inches interior dimensions in planview, and with each ledge 33, 34 projecting inwardly one-fourth inchfrom its supporting wall or partition.

The envelopes are initially opened by a suitable envelope slittingmachine, their contents manually extracted, and the processed envelopescollected together. To verify that all contents of the envelopes havebeen properly extracted, the operator forms the envelopes into separatestacks with approximately 430 envelopes in each stack. The stacks areplaced into the six compartments of carrier 11 with the envelope openedges facing downwardly and with the end corners supported in eachcompartment upon the two ledges. Rheostat control dial 16 is thenadjusted to the desired position for the most efficient vibratingamplitude for the particular envelope size and weight which is to behandled. For example, the rheostat control can be adjusted to effect arelatively large vibrating amplitude for handling relatively large size,heavy envelope stock. Switch 15 is then operated to energize thevibrating mechanism at a frequency of 3,600 cycles per minute to impartvibratory motion to table 13 and carrier 11. This in turn impartsvibratory motion to the envelopes, causing the side walls of individualenvelopes to separate and permit any unextracted articles to drop bygravital action and fall onto the top of table 13. The vibratingoperation is continued for a time period sufficient to insure completearticle extraction, e.g., a time period on the order of 30 seconds,afterwhich the operator actuates switch 15 to terminate vibratorymotion. The operator then collects any articles which have fallen ontothe table and removes the emptied stacks of envelopes from thecompartments for subsequence disposal. The apparatus may now be reloadedwith additional envelope stacks for a repetition of the foregoing steps.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate another embodiment of the invention comprisingapparatus 39 adapted to accommodate a range of envelope lengths, andfurther adapted to support the envelopes during vibration along aninclined axis. Apparatus 39 includes an envelope rack or carrier 41mounted above a suitable vibrating mechanism, such as the vibratingjogger 42.

Vibratingjogger 42 includes a flat table 43 supported above a housing 44and lying in a plane inclined with respect to a horizontal plane.Preferably the table 43 lies in a plane defining an angle ofsubstantially 35 from a horizontal plane, and suitable means, not shown,may be provided to move the inclination of the table to a selected angleto cause an optimum jogging action for the particular type and weight ofenvelope and contained article to be handled. Housing 44 encloses aconventional vibrating mechanism, preferably electromagnet coil means,operatively connected with table 43 and adapted, when energized, toimpart vibratory motion to the table and carrier at a preferredfrequency of 3,600 cycles per minute and with an amplitude having amajor vertical component. The amplitude of vibration is selectivelycontrolled by means of dial 46 controlling a suitable rheostat device inthe coil circuitry. An on-off switch 47 is provided for opening andclosing a circuit between the coil means and source of AC electricpower,

Envelope carrier 41 comprises a frame which defines a pair ofside-by-side upwardly and downwardly open compartments 48, 49. The frameis formed by a pair of side walls 51, 52 mounted to and extendingupwardly from opposite margins of table 43. An end wall 53 is mountedbetween the lower inclined edges of the side walls and extendsdownwardly where it joins with the lower edge of the table. A centralpartition 54 is mounted above table 43 mid-way between the two sidewalls and is joined at its lower inclined edge with end wall 53. Each ofthe end walls and central partition are formed with semi-circularcut-outs 56 to facilitate operator loading and unloading of the envelopestacks.

Means is provided within the two compartments for supporting the stacksof pre-opened envelopes with their open edges facing downwardly andspaced above the top surface of table 43. This means includes a pair ofhorizontally extending ledges 57, 58 mounted within each compartment to,and extending inwardly from, the inner surface of end wall 53. A pair ofmovable end walls 59, 60 are mounted in respective compartments formovement to and from the opposed end wall 53. In each of thecompartments grooves 61, 62 are formed in the inner surfaces of sidewalls 51, 52 and central partition 54, and these grooves extend alongaxes which are generally parallel with the plane of table 43. A pair ofhorizontally extending ledges 63, 64 are mounted to and extend inwardlyfrom the lower margins of the two movable end walls. The opposite endsof each of the ledges 63, 64 project into sliding relationship withrespective grooves 61, 62 to maintain the orientation of the movable endwalls in a plane generally parallel with the plane of end waall 53.Suitable means such as bracket 66 and releasable screw device 67 aremounted below a corner of each end wall 59, 60 to selectively lock theseend walls in the desired position along the grooves for supporting theparticular size of envelope to be handled. The spaces above table 43 andbelow the two end walls 59, 60 are open to facilitate access for removalof any extracted articles.

The use and operation of apparatus 39 will be explained in relation tothe handling of the typical envelopes 68 in which checks 69 are mailedto an organization for crediting the customers account. The envelopesare initially opened along their edges 71 by suitable automatic slittingmachines and the contents manually extracted. To verify that allcontents have been extracted, a plurality of the envelopes are manuallyassembled into stacks and placed into the compartments with their openedges facing downwardly and with their lower end corners resting uponopposed ledges 57, 63, as illustrated in FIG. 5 for compartment 48.Selector dial 46 is then turned to the setting required for the desiredvibratory amplitude, and switch 47 is actuated to energize the vibratingmechanism. Vibration is continued for a suitable time on the order ofseconds. The vibratory motion imparted from table 43 to the carrier andenvelopes causes the envelope side walls to separate. Because of theinclined orientation of the envelopes during vibration, any containedarticles move by gravital action downwardly toward the lowermost cornersofthe envelopes. The lowermost corner of the article will engage lowerledge 57, which acts as a fulcrum about which the article pivotsclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 5, for movement out of the opened edge ofthe envelope. After the vibrating operation has proceeded for thedesired time switch 47 is deactivated, the operator collects and removesany articles which have fallen onto the table 43, and the stacks ofenvelopes in the two compartments are removed for subsequence disposal.The apparatus may now be reloaded with additional envelope stacks andthe foregoing steps repeated. Where the envelopes in the next successiveload are of a different length size, then the operator unlocks either orboth of the screw devices 67, moves the end walls 59, 60 to the requireddistance from end wall 53, and again locks the end walls in place.

While the foregoing embodiments are at present considered to bepreferred it will be understood that numerous variations andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art and it isintended to cover in the appended claims all such variations andmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for removing articles contained within an envelope havingoppositely facing, closely spacedapart, flat side walls joined togetheralong common peripheral edge portions thereof, said envelope being openalong at least an additional common peripheral edge portion of said sidewalls, comprising the combination of an envelope carrier, said carrierhaving means forming at least one compartment, means associated with thecompartment to support a group of said envelopes along at least aportion of their additional common edge portionsin substantiallyvertically extending planes and with said open edge portions disposedlowermost, and means for imparting vibratory motion to said envelopesfor separating the side walls thereof and causing said articles to movedownwardly from said envelopes through said open edge portions.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 which includes means forming an articlereceiving surface spaced vertically below said support means to receiveand collect said articles moving from said envelopes.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1 in which said envelope carrier frame having aframe upstanding spaced-apart walls which together define saidcompartment, and said support means includes means forming a pair ofspaced-apart horizontally extending ledges on an opposed pair of saidframe walls in said compartment, said ledges extending inwardly fromtheir associated frame wall for supporting opposite lower end corners ofsaid envelopes.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3 in which said pair of ledges in saidcompartment are spaced-apart a distance less than the length of saidenvelopes measured along their major axes to support opposite lower endcorners thereof, said distance further being greater than the length ofsaid articles measured along their major axes whereby the latter arefree to undergo said downward movement from the envelopes.

5. Apparatus as in claim 4 which includes means to move at least one ofsaid ledges relative to the opposite ledge associated therewith toselectively vary said spaced-apart distance for supporting envelopes ofvariable lengths measured along their major axes.

6. Apparatus as in claim 5 in which said one ledge is carried by atleast one wall of said pair of walls, together with means to move saidone wall relative to the opposite frame wall associated therewith forvarying said distance.

7. Apparatus as in claim 1 in which said support means supports saidenvelopes with their major axes extending in a direction which isinclined with respect to a horizontal plane.

8. Apparatus as in claim 7 in which said envelope carrier comprises aframe having at least one pair of upstanding spaced-apart side wallstogether with at least one pair of end walls lying transversely acrossand spaced-apart along said inclined direction, and said support meansincludes means forming a ledge extending inwardly from each of said endwalls, said ledges being spaced-apart a distance less than the length ofsaid envelopes measured along their major axes to support opposite lowerend corners thereof.

9. Apparatus as in claim 8 which includes means to selectively vary saiddistance between said end walls to support envelopes of variable lengthsmeasured along their major axes.

10. Apparatus as in claim 1 in which said means imparting vibratorymotion includes means forming a planar table, said envelope carrierbeing mounted for movement with said table, and means to impartvibratory movement to said table, said vibratory movement having atleast a vertical component of movement.

11. Apparatus for removing articles contained within an envelope havingoppositely facing flat side walls joined together along commonperipheral edge portions thereof, said envelope being open along atleast additional common peripheral edge portions of said side walls,including the combination of an envelope carrier comprising a frameupstanding spaced-apart walls which together define one or more upwardlyand downwardly open compartments, said carrier having UNITED STATESPATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CER'HFICATE 0F CORREC'HQN 0 PATENTNO.3,870,176

DATED 1 March 11, 1975 INV ENTOR( I David- W. Gernetzke It is certifiedthat error appears in the ab0ve-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the first page, first Col. the following should be inserted above[22] Filed: August 24, 1972" Assignee:

Wells Fargo & Company, San Francisco, Calif.

' Col, 2, line 46 delete "to" (second occurrence) and substitute theCole 5, line 15 delete "waall" and substitute wall Col. 6, line 22delete "frame having a frame" and substitute comprises a frame havingColn 7, line ll after "frame" insert having grgncd and ge'aled thistwentieth Day of April1976 [SEAL] Arrest:

RUTH- C. MaSON C. MARSHALL DANN Altvslmg Officer (ummissimu'r oj'lalenlsand Trudemurks

1. Apparatus for removing articles contained within an envelope havingoppositely facing, closely spaced-apart, flat side walls joined togetheralong common peripheral edge portions thereof, said envelope being openalong at least an additional common peripheral edge portion of said sidewalls, comprising the combination of an envelope carrier, said carrierhaving means forming at least one compartment, means associated with thecompartment to support a group of said envelopes along at least aportion of their additional common edge portions in substantiallyvertically extending planes and with said open edge portions disposedlowermost, and means for imparting vibratory motion to said envelopesfor separating the side walls thereof and causing said articles to movedownwardly from said envelopes through said open edge portions. 1.Apparatus for removing articles contained within an envelope havingoppositely facing, closely spaced-apart, flat side walls joined togetheralong common peripheral edge portions thereof, said envelope being openalong at least an additional common peripheral edge portion of said sidewalls, comprising the combination of an envelope carrier, said carrierhaving means forming at least one compartment, means associated with thecompartment to support a group of said envelopes along at least aportion of their additional common edge portions in substantiallyvertically extending planes and with said open edge portions disposedlowermost, and means for imparting vibratory motion to said envelopesfor separating the side walls thereof and causing said articles to movedownwardly from said envelopes through said open edge portions. 2.Apparatus as in claim 1 which includes means forming an articlereceiving surface spaced vertically below said support means to receiveand collect said articles moving from said envelopes.
 3. Apparatus as inclaim 1 in which said envelope carrier comprises a frame havingupstanding spaced-apart walls which together define said compartment,and said support means includes means forming a pair of spaced-aparthorizontally extending ledges on an opposed pair of said Frame walls insaid compartment, said ledges extending inwardly from their associatedframe wall for supporting opposite lower end corners of said envelopes.4. Apparatus as in claim 3 in which said pair of ledges in saidcompartment are spaced-apart a distance less than the length of saidenvelopes measured along their major axes to support opposite lower endcorners thereof, said distance further being greater than the length ofsaid articles measured along their major axes whereby the latter arefree to undergo said downward movement from the envelopes.
 5. Apparatusas in claim 4 which includes means to move at least one of said ledgesrelative to the opposite ledge associated therewith to selectively varysaid spaced-apart distance for supporting envelopes of variable lengthsmeasured along their major axes.
 6. Apparatus as in claim 5 in whichsaid one ledge is carried by at least one wall of said pair of walls,together with means to move said one wall relative to the opposite framewall associated therewith for varying said distance.
 7. Apparatus as inclaim 1 in which said support means supports said envelopes with theirmajor axes extending in a direction which is inclined with respect to ahorizontal plane.
 8. Apparatus as in claim 7 in which said envelopecarrier comprises a frame having at least one pair of upstandingspaced-apart side walls together with at least one pair of end wallslying transversely across and spaced-apart along said inclineddirection, and said support means includes means forming a ledgeextending inwardly from each of said end walls, said ledges beingspaced-apart a distance less than the length of said envelopes measuredalong their major axes to support opposite lower end corners thereof. 9.Apparatus as in claim 8 which includes means to selectively vary saiddistance between said end walls to support envelopes of variable lengthsmeasured along their major axes.
 10. Apparatus as in claim 1 in whichsaid means imparting vibratory motion includes means forming a planartable, said envelope carrier being mounted for movement with said table,and means to impart vibratory movement to said table, said vibratorymovement having at least a vertical component of movement.